Step bracket

ABSTRACT

Supporting brackets having means for attachment to upper portions of a building foundation wall are secured in position and interconnected with reinforcing rods after which a concrete stoop, slab or the like is poured thereover so as to be supported thereby in fixed relationship with respect to the foundation.

ijited States 1 3*" Hughes [451 Mar. 28, 1972 [54] STEP BRACKET [72] Inventor: William G. Hughes, 3200 West 185th Place, Homewood, Ill. 60430 [22] Filed: Feb. 11, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 10,362

521 user ..248/205R,52/73 s11 lint.Cl ..E04g 17/00 [58] FieldofSearch ..24s/23s,243,251,214,241, 248/205; 52/36, 741, 719, 73; 182/90; 249/203,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Sand X 3,077,645 2/1963 Fleming ..248/235 X 3,058,759 10/1962 McDuff ..248/56 X 3,400,829 9/1968 Youngson ..248/235 X Primary Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Attorney-Olson, Trexler, Wolters & Bushnell [5 7] ABSTRACT Supporting brackets having means for attachment to upper portions of a building foundation wall are secured in position and interconnected with reinforcing rods after which a concrete stoop, slab or the like is poured thereover so as to be supported thereby in fixed relationship with respect to the foundation.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures STEP BRACKET The present invention relates to the pouring in place of concrete members such as stoops, walks, patios, and the like and more specifically to a novel method and means for forming such concrete members so that they are supported in fixed relationship to a foundation wall.

As is well known, it is usual practice in the construction field to provide an excavation for a building foundation, which excavation is initially at least slightly larger than the desired foundation. After foundation walls are constructed either by the pouring of concrete, the laying of cement blocks or the like, the excavation is back-filled against the outside of the foundation wall. Subsequently it is frequently desirable to pour cement stoops, walks, patios, and the like at locations adjacent the top of the foundation and overlying the soil or other material which is to be used for back-filling the excavation.

While attempts may be made to pack the back-fill material around the foundation, such attempts usually are not entirely successful. Thus, over a period of time the back-fill material usually sinks relative to the building foundation and the ground level of surrounding undisturbed soil. Of course, any concrete stoop, walk or slab which has been poured on top of such back-fill material will sink with it so that the concrete member becomes undesirably displaced and/or cracked.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel method and means for enabling concrete members to be poured in a manner such that they will be securely supported relative to a building foundation and thus unaffected by any sinking of back-fill material or the like over which they may be placed.

It is a further and more specific object of the present invention to provide a novel method and means for pouring and supporting concrete members of the type described above without the use of expensive concrete or similar foundations beneath the members as have heretofore sometimes been utilized.

A further more specific object of the present invention is to provide novel bracket means of simple economical and rugged construction adapted readily to be fixed with respect to a building foundation and to extend therefrom for supporting a member such as a poured concrete stoop, walk, slab or the like.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bracket structure incorporating features of the present invention secured to a foundation wall and positioned within a form for supporting a concrete stoop to be subsequently poured within the form;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary partial sectional view taken generally along line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to F IG. 2 but showing a modified form of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the bracket of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a tubular element used in securing the bracket of FIGS. 1-3 with respect to a poured concrete foundation wall.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, a bracket structure 10 incorporating features of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1-3 secured to a foundation wall 12 in position to support a concrete member such as a stoop or a slab which is to be poured within a fonn 14. In this embodiment, the foundation wall is formed of poured concrete in an excavation in accordance with well known practices after which the soil is back-filled into the excavation against the outside surface of the concrete wall as indicated at 16.

The form 14 is erected over the back-fill material 16 and around the bracket structure 10. The form may be of any known construction and, in the embodiment shown, it comprises a plurality of upstanding side members or boards 18 secured in position by stakes 20. After the form is completed, concrete 22 is poured into the form to provide the desired finished concrete member 23.

The bracket structure 10 constructed in accordance with features of the present invention comprises bracket members 24 secured to the foundation wall in the manner described below. In the embodiment shown, the bracket structure 10 comprises two of the bracket members 24 arranged in spaced apart relationship. Concrete reinforcing rods 26 extend between and are supported by the bracket members. It is to be understood that the number of bracket members and rods may be increased or decreased in accordance with the requirements of a particular installation.

Each of the support brackets 24 comprises a flat, substantially vertically extending base plate 30 which is adapted to be positioned against the outer surface of the foundation wall 12 as shown in FIG. 3. An aperture 32 is formed through the base plate 30 at a location spaced substantially below an upper end of the base plate and at the same time substantially above the lower end of the base plate and preferably slightly above the mid point of the base plate. The aperture 32 is adapted to accommodate an elongated bolt 34 for securing the bracket to the foundation wall.

The bracket 24 has a substantially horizontal laterally outwardly extending arm 36. The arm is in the form of an angle iron presenting a vertical flange 38 for providing substantial vertical rigidity or, in other words, for resisting downward deflection. The arm 36 also has a horizontal flange 40 which has a width many times greater than the thickness of the angle iron material and specifically the vertical flange 38. The width of the flange 40 enables the weight of the ultimately poured concrete member or slab to be supported over a relatively wide area so as to minimize stress concentrations and the possibility of cracking. The arm 36 is secured to the base plate 30 by welds 42 and 44 extending along inner ends of the flanges 38 and 40 respectively as shown best in FIG. 3.

The poured concrete member 23 is also supported by the reinforcing rods 26 which extend between the arms 36 of the brackets. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, protuberances in the form of pins 46 welded or otherwise secured to the arm flanges 40 project upwardly for retaining the reinforcing rods with respect to the brackets. It is to be noted that thereinforcing rods are positioned on the bracket arms between the protuberances 26 and the foundation wall. Thus, the protuberances will prevent the reinforcing rods 26 from sliding laterally outwardly away from the foundation wall and this in turn prevents the board, slab or member 29 from pulling away from the foundation wall.

In order to adapt the foundation wall 12 for accommodating the bracket mounting bolt 34, a device 48 is provided for forming an aperture 50 through the foundation wall alignable with the aperture 32 in the bracket base plate 30. The device 48 comprises telescoping tubes 52 and 54 respectively having flanges 56 and 58 at their opposite ends. The device 48 is adapted to be mounted between opposing surfaces of the forms, not shown, used when pouring the concrete wall 12. As will be understood, such forms usually comprise sheets of reinforced plywood which are erected and held in predetermined spaced apart relationship by suitable means. After the forms have been erected, the device 48 is positioned between the opposite surfaces thereof, adjusted to the desired length and secured in position by driving nails 60 and 62 through the flanges 56 and 58 and into the forms. After the forms are removed outer end portions of the nails are cut away leaving portions of the nails and the device 48 embedded in the concrete as shown in FIG. 2. While the members of the device 48 may be formed of any suitable material, they are preferably formed from plastic.

It is apparent that after the forms have been removed from the foundation wall 12, the bracket members 24 may be easily and quickly secured to the foundation by inserting the bolts 34 through the base plates 30 and the devices 48. Nut elements 64 are applied to the inner ends of the bolts and relatively large diameter washers 66 are preferably provided between the concrete wall and the nut elements for distributing stresses as shown in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a bracket member 24a incorporating a modified form of the present invention, which bracket member is similar to the structure described above as indicated by the application of identical reference numerals with the suffix a added to corresponding elements. The bracket member 24a may be used with the poured concrete foundation wall of the type described above, if desired, but it is especially suitable for use with a foundation wall 12a formed from concrete blocks 68, bricks and the like. In this embodiment, the previously described securing bolt is replaced by an element 34a having an end portion secured to the arm 36a by bolts 70 or any other suitable attachment means such as welding. An opposite end portion of the attachment member 340 is adapted to extend over the top of the wall 12a and terminates in the downwardly projecting flange or hook portion 72 engageable with the inner upper margin of the wall portion in the manner shown.

The base plate 30a of the bracket member 24a is sufficiently long so as to completely traverse the uppermost layer or course of the concrete blocks 68 and substantially overlap the next lowermost layer of the blocks as shown in FIG. 4. This arrangement minimizes any possibility that the uppermost block to which the bracket member is secured will be loosened under the weight of the poured concrete member to be supported by the bracket structure.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it is obvious that many details may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A bracket structure for supporting a poured concrete member with respect to a foundation wall and the like comprising a plurality of brackets attached to and spaced along said wall, each of said brackets including a base member positioned against an outer surface of said wall, an arm member secured to said base member and extending laterally therefrom and adapted to be embedded in the concrete member during pouring of the concrete member, means for securing said base and arm members to aid wall, and reinforcing rod means supported by and extending between said arm members of said brackets.

2. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein said arm member comprises the first generally upstanding flange for resisting downward deflection of the arm member and a second generally horizontally extending flange.

3. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 2, wherein said arm member comprises an angle iron and said generally horizontal flange has a width substantially greater than the thickness of the angle iron material.

4. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 2, which includes means on said arm member for retaining reinforcing rods positioned on and supported by the arm member.

5. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein said connecting means comprises bolt means for extending through said base member and said wall, and a tubular device defining an opening through said wall for accommodating said bolt means.

6. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein said connecting means comprises a hook member fixed with respect to said base member and extending laterally opposite from said arm member, said hook member being adapted to extend over said wall and including a terminal flange for engaging behind said wall.

7. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 6, adapted for attachment to a masonry wall formed from a plurality of rows of concrete blocks and the like each of which has a predetermined height wherein said base member has a vertical height greater than said predetermined height for overlapping a plurality of said rows of concrete blocks.

8. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, WhlCh includes upstanding reinforcing rod retaining elements on the arm members of said brackets, said reinforcing rod means being disposed on said arm members at locations between the base members of the brackets and said elements for enabling the elements to prevent the rod means from moving laterally away from the wall. 

1. A bracket structure for supporting a poured concrete member with respect to a foundation wall and the like comprising a plurality of brackets attached to and spaced along said wall, each of said brackets including a base member positioned against an outer surface of said wall, an arm member secured to said base member and extending laterally therefrom and adapted to be embedded in the concrete member during pouring of the concrete member, means for securing said base and arm members to aid wall, and reinforcing rod means supported by and extending between said arm members of said brackets.
 2. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein said arm member comprises the first generally upstanding flange for resisting downward deflection of the arm member and a second generally horizontally extending flange.
 3. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 2, wherein said arm member comprises an angle iron and said generally horizontal flange hAs a width substantially greater than the thickness of the angle iron material.
 4. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 2, which includes means on said arm member for retaining reinforcing rods positioned on and supported by the arm member.
 5. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein said connecting means comprises bolt means for extending through said base member and said wall, and a tubular device defining an opening through said wall for accommodating said bolt means.
 6. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein said connecting means comprises a hook member fixed with respect to said base member and extending laterally opposite from said arm member, said hook member being adapted to extend over said wall and including a terminal flange for engaging behind said wall.
 7. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 6, adapted for attachment to a masonry wall formed from a plurality of rows of concrete blocks and the like each of which has a predetermined height wherein said base member has a vertical height greater than said predetermined height for overlapping a plurality of said rows of concrete blocks.
 8. A bracket structure, as defined in claim 1, which includes upstanding reinforcing rod retaining elements on the arm members of said brackets, said reinforcing rod means being disposed on said arm members at locations between the base members of the brackets and said elements for enabling the elements to prevent the rod means from moving laterally away from the wall. 